When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, its a good core workout. If youre sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More

In the past 30 years, light artists have reimagined an art form that has always had the ability to turn the night sky, or a simple window, into luminescence. Last fall, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts turned its southern glass wall into a parade of sound-sensing lights, Lightswarm, that changes with the movements of nearby people and things. Future Cities Lab, the San Francisco design company behind Lightswarm, has originated another notable light sculpture. Located by the YBCA's steps at 701 Mission, Murmur Wall will light up in arresting ways as it incorporates local trending search engine results and social media postings. Onlookers can offer their own contributions, which will feed into the Murmur Wall's data stream and light up the sculpture. What's trending in San Francisco? If you're walking by the YBCA, you can see firsthand — at least through light patterns that reflect the city's volatile internet habits.
Murmur Wall debuts Thursday at 6 p.m. and continues through May 31, 2017, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St., S.F. Free; 415-978-2700 or ybca.org. More

Trixxie Carr upholds the dignity characteristic of the original bacchanalian.

Sometimes, the usual career gurus just don't cut it. When you're really down and out, when the recession threatens to quash once and for all your dreams of a career in the arts, you have to look beyond Craigslist and advice columns, past the usual contacts and mentors ... and maybe dispense with mortals entirely.

Well, not entirely. Dionysus is only a half-god. She is played by Trixxie Carr, and channeled by four down-and-out artists (Travis Santell Rowland, Angelica Roque, Norm Munoz, and Jarrad Webster), in Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dionysus, a "Greek comedy rock epic" at CounterPULSE. She may or may not have been kicked off Mount Olympus, and it's uncertain whether she has any real powers to aid in the arts, despite being the god(dess) of theater.

But she has had a lot of jobs, and she's all too happy to share the wisdom of her experience with the hapless mortals, provided they play the part of reverential audience to her self-aggrandizement, and she is afforded all the theatrical devices her heart desires.

Under the direction of Ben Randle, Hold Me Closer is effusive in its theatricality and generous in its silliness. When Dionysus enters, it is with all the false majesty of a prideful clown about to tumble far: Sporting a silver sequined bustier and miniskirt, lacy stockings and garters, a platinum wig and a mink stole, Carr (who also wrote the script) is pushed in on a ramshackle sailboat by her inexplicably mute servant (Talia Lipskind), but always with her chin held high (that is, to better chug a bottle of wine).

The impatient mortals are quick to question this façade, but Tiny Diny (though, as she says, she "was never tiny where it counts") always has enough bravado to get them to listen to one more anecdote. She guides them through her resume, which includes drag performance, BDSM, and phone sex. Puppets, 1980s tunes such as "We Built This City," props descending from the ceiling, and period costumes popping out of drunks all come to her aid -- as do the mortals themselves, who are all only too ready to join in the striptease.

Often, however, Randle does not sustain the magic of his vision through an entire scene. Almost every new costume change or pop number gets a laugh or energizes the pace, but between those repetitive dialogue dominates. It's hard, scene after scene, to listen to a group of four undifferentiated characters whine about how they don't want to work at Starbucks anymore. Music, too, deadens as often as it enlivens: At times Carr performs full versions of songs instead of just a verse and a chorus. Pleasant as her rock star belt is to listen to, the play simply doesn't achieve the depth of emotion that would justify such protracted bursts into song.

One glorious exception is Carr's performance of Hall & Oates' "One on One," which she performs as a lip sync serenade to two dildos, one silver, one gold, about eight feet apart. So specific were her facial expressions and gestures that each dildo became a full character with distinct personality traits, each competing for her love. As she felt pulled from one to another, trying to placate each device and fulfill its desire, Carr offered both an absurdly comic act of pantomime and an ingenious comment on the nature of burlesque.

With some judicious cutting, Hold Me Closer could fully become the silly romp it wants to be. Until then, there's a little too much foot-dragging for it to really get off the ground.

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Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"